Privacy issues in designing mobile apps

The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) recently released a guide under the title "Mobile Privacy: A better practice guide for mobile app developers" (the Guide). The intention of the Guide is to assist app developers with building "privacy-friendly" apps to ensure better privacy practices and also ensure compliance with Australian privacy laws, both under the existing National Privacy Principles, and the incoming Australian Privacy Principles, which will commence from 12 March 2014.

Privacy remains a big concern for consumers. A recent survey, Internet privacy research: report, indicated that 69 per cent of Australian app users have refused to use an application because it collected too much personal information, and 75 per cent also said they needed to know more about the ways that companies collected personal information.